Web developers use a variety of languages, methods and techniques for storing and presenting data on a web page. Because of the variety of ways in which web content is formatted, using data from one web page for an application on another web page, or transferring a transaction completed on one web page to another web page can be difficult. Problems also arise due to changes in programming methods over time. For example, developers wanting to access information from a web site designed several years ago, developed by a different company or by a different group of programmers, may find it difficult to format the data for use in a new programming structure. Differences in data format are compounded by the fact that different terminology can be used describe similar data. For example, the same product being sold on the internet can be described in a variety of ways, as can the attributes of that product. Such differences make automated use of information or transactions associated with the product difficult.
Because of these and other differences, automatically taking data from one source and using it in a new application may be difficult or impossible and can require high levels of computer resources. Additionally, existing method of extracting data typically result in data that is suitable only for the one particular application for which it was extracted and that cannot be widely used in a variety of programs. There is a need then for a method for automatically extracting data from a variety of sources and repackaging it in a universal formation that can be used in a variety of applications and a method for generalizing transactions that can be performed with such data.
One exemplary application for such methods is in establishing an e-commerce retail site for a manufacturer. Oftentimes manufacturers do not offer goods for sale directly from their web site due to contractual restrictions with their retailers or to the high costs of building and maintaining a retail website. One alternative to selling goods directly is to link or “deep link” to a retailer's web site. Deep linking is an attempt to take the customer to a point in the retailer's web site where a user can more readily purchase an item seen on the manufacturer's web site. Linking or deep linking to a retailer's web site is inexpensive, but abandons control of the customer to the retailer. Deep linking also risks a very disconnected and confusing customer experience. Such linking is less convenient for the customer who may be required to repeat some or all of the shopping process on the retailer's web page. This can lead to increased sale abandonment. Additionally, linking or deep linking of a retailer's web site does not allow detailed tracking of buying trends of visitors to the manufacturer's web site.